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The interdisciplinary reading notebook.
A practical record for meeting an unfamiliar source, describing it fairly and keeping the next question attached to its context.
1. Name the question you bring
Write what you are trying to understand before choosing a connection. A narrow question gives you a reason to read without requiring the source to answer something outside its purpose.
Record what is familiar to you and which terms or assumptions you expect may need attention. Treat those expectations as a starting point rather than a conclusion about the new field.
2. Identify the source
Save the author or responsible organisation, title, publication context and date where available. Keep a stable reference or locator that allows you to return to the material.
Note what kind of source it is: an argument, a study, a design artefact, a report or another form. Different forms can contribute to a reading question without playing the same evidential role.
3. Describe before responding
Write the question the source addresses, the material it works with and the kind of claim it makes. Use a description that another reader could check against the original.
Keep unfamiliar terms in a small glossary with their context. Avoid replacing a term with a familiar word before you understand whether the meanings fit.
4. Separate the layers of the note
Use distinct spaces for source statements, your interpretation and the question that follows. Keep exact quotations clearly marked and attributed if you use them.
This separation makes it easier to revise a reading later. You can change your interpretation without losing the source statement that prompted it.
5. Describe the connection precisely
Name what you want to borrow: a question, a distinction, a way of describing or a metaphor. Explain why it is relevant to the problem you brought.
Record the differences between the settings. Ask which features prevent the comparison from becoming a broader claim about a shared cause or mechanism.
6. Seek the useful difficulty
Identify the point where the source resists your first reading. It may be a definition, an assumption, a missing comparison or a limit on the evidence.
Choose one further source or clarification that could help. Avoid turning the notebook into an endless collection of references with no connection to the original question.
7. Return with a bounded takeaway
State what changed in your understanding and what remains open. A clearer distinction or a better question can be a useful outcome without a grand synthesis.
Keep the final note with its source record and earlier description. The movement in your reading is part of what the notebook preserves.